Casa de Benavidez Restaurant
8032 4th Street NW
Los Ranchos
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 898-3311

To attend, please RSVP below:
http://www.stc-nm-kachina.org/main/programs/registration/

Map:

Directions: From I-25, drive west on Paseo Del Norte, exit at 2nd Street, drive west to 4th Street.

View Larger Map

Close up map:

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Kay Schlembach is managing partner with Potomac Indexing and will speak on “Metatopic Menance.”  During her presentation, we will look at examples, discuss various approaches, and suggest several solutions to this challenge. We will also touch on biographies, and perhaps even the ASI/H. W. Wilson Award for Excellence in Indexing.

Jan Wright, a seasoned indexing and taxonomizing specialist, will talk about “eBooks and eReaders.” Join us to talk about eBook indexes, issues, and work-arounds, as well as a hands-on session with various brands of popular eReaders. We’ll be sure to have real indexes on the eReaders, so that you can look at the advantages and disadvantages of indexing on the small screen.

Date and Time: Saturday, June 25th, 2011 at 1:00PM
Location: Erna Ferguson Library Meeting Room, 3700 San Mateo NE, Albuquerque.
A map can be found at http://bit.ly/dVcH9u.

Registration:
Before and through June 15th: $35.00
After June 15th or at the door: $40.00
Please make your check out to A to Zia Indexers, and send it to: A to Zia Indexers, c/o Francine Cronshaw, P.O. Box 1895 Tijeras, NM 87059.

If you want more information, please contact Jan Wright at janwright@gmail.com or 505-459-0929.

The Kachina Chapter will be providing a meal and a non-alcoholic beverage for those who attend. All who are current members or those just interested in finding out more about our Chapter are welcome to join us for food, conversation, and fun! Roger Renteria, Kachina Chapter Secretary and recent Technical Communication graduate will speak on the benefits of Social Networking Media and the STC.

Date: Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
Time: 6-8pm
Location: Fiesta’s Restaurant & Lounge, 4400 Carlisle Blvd NE, Albuquerque NM, 87110

Pre-Paid Cost: $5.00 for STC members, $10.00 for non-members, $5.00 for students, or $15.00 at the door.
To attend, please RSVP Here

We look forward to seeing you there!

Map to Fiesta’s:

Directions: Exit at I-25 at Mongomery, drive east to the corner of Carlisle and Montgomery.

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Our first meeting of 2011 will be held from 6 pm to 8 pm on Wednesday, February 9th at:

Casa de Benavidez Restaurant
8032 4th Street NW
Los Ranchos
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 898-3311

To attend, please RSVP here.

Map:

Directions: From I-25, drive west on Paseo Del Norte, exit at 2nd Street, drive west to 4th Street.

View Larger Map

Close up map:

View Larger Map

Please Sign Up so we can have an accurate count.  The chapter will be providing a meal and a non-alcoholic drink; alcoholic drinks are your responsibility.

The preliminary agenda for the meeting:

5:30 Set up meeting space (anyone who wants to help can show up for this)
6:00 Meet & greet
6:30 Welcome & place food/drink orders
6:35 Secretary report
6:40 Treasurer report
6:45 President’s report
7:00 Possible presenter (still being set up)
7:30 Awards & recognitions
7:45 Presentation of 2011 Board
8:00 Adjourn

A final agenda will be provided at the meeting.

The current Kachina Chapter President and Vice President of programs are retiring. Now, it’s your turn! We need 2 people to assume those principal leadership positions. The length of the term of office for all positions is one year. Presidents are asked to continue an additional year as “Immediate Past President.”

Our chapter is in good financial shape (see Budget and infrastructure), and you’ll have the support of the present council as you learn the ropes.

Please submit your application no later than 8 October 2010 by emailing our outgoing president, Larry Bonura: nmstc.president@stc-nm-kachina.org. Questions are welcome too!

Benefits

• The chapter fully supports the attendance of its president at the Technical Communication Summit (STC’s annual conference) by paying fees for the conference, including Leadership Day, and travel expenses.
• Whenever possible, the chapter also supports the attendance of one or more officers to STC’s annual conference, by defraying some of the cost of fees and travel.
• In order to encourage broad participation, particularly given last year’s membership fee increases, the chapter provides a dues subsidy for administrative council members. During your tenure as an administrative council member, the chapter will reimburse your standard international society dues for any amount over $100.

There is a wealth of less tangible benefits for officers:

• Learn new skills and gain management experience.
• Make industry contacts, both locally and internationally, which can help you professionally.
• Enjoy working with other smart, talented people on the council and in the Kachina chapter.
• Contribute to the profession by keeping our chapter and our society strong and vital.

Leadership positions

We have 2 administrative council positions: President and VP of Programs. These officers are empowered to make decisions on the chapter’s behalf, including allocating chapter funds. The President also has obligations to report to the Society about decisions made by the administrative council and about chapter activities.

We consolidated the duties of certain positions to equalize the responsibilities among the various roles. Each position has fundamental obligations (see the excerpt from the Society’s US Model Chapter Bylaws, as well as Kachina Chapter Policies and Procedures), but anything beyond is whatever you and your fellow council members want.

The time commitments of these positions are roughly equal. Five hours a month is usually all that is required, though special events demand more time. Consider these roles as principally management positions, in which you direct and coordinate the activities of other volunteers.

1. The President presides at all meetings and represents the chapter and its interests at Leadership Day during the Society’s annual conference. For more details, see Kachina Chapter Policies and Procedures.

2. The Vice President of Programs (a.k.a. “party coordinator”) makes sure that we have interesting and well-run meetings for our membership. For more details, see Kachina Chapter Policies and Procedures.

3. The Secretary prepares minutes of administrative council meetings and manages chapter communications, including the newsletter, the website, and publicity. The current newsletter editor is retiring, but the webmaster and listmaster will continue for the foreseeable future.
For more details, see Kachina Chapter Policies and Procedures.

4. The Treasurer manages the data and files the necessary reports on our two treasures: chapter funds and membership. For more details, see Kachina Chapter Policies and Procedures.

Support

Current officers have all pledged to train and support the new council. You will not be abandoned or left to flounder.

Budget and infrastructure

The Kachina Chapter is fiscally sound and current on required reports to the Society. The operating budget supports meetings, workshops, and other member services for the coming 18 months. It also covers recurring expenses, such as the ISP, for the next 2 years.

The outgoing council has made several operational improvements, such as holding council meetings via Web conference and revising the chapter’s policies and procedures for currency and flexibility. We have invested in equipment for meetings, so that workshops and programs will be easier to hold.

Excerpt from Model U.S. Chapter Bylaws Template 2009

ARTICLE IV
OFFICERS

Section 1. Definition; Appointment. The Chapter shall have a President, a Secretary and a Treasurer (the “Officers”). . . ..No person may hold more than one Office at the same time, except the offices of Secretary and Treasurer, which may be held by one person at the same time.

Section 2. Duties of the Officers. The President shall call and preside at meetings of the Chapter, the Administrative Council and the voting members and shall perform such other duties as the Administrative Council may assign from time to time. The Secretary shall keep, or cause to be kept, minutes of all Administrative Council meetings, including those conducted by telephone, and the record of unanimous electronic votes and membership meetings, shall distribute them in accordance with Chapter policies and procedures and perform such other duties as the President or the Administrative Council may assign. The Secretary shall assume the duties of the President in the temporary absence or incapacity of the President. The Treasurer shall (a) oversee Chapter finances; (b) work with Chapter representatives to prepare an annual budget for approval by the Administrative Council; (c) deliver a report to the voting members on the Chapter’s financial condition at the Chapter’s annual business meeting, (d) prepare and submit any financial reports required by the Society, and (e) prepare and submit any filings required by the US Internal Revenue Service. The Treasurer shall perform such other duties as the President or the Administrative Council may assign.

Jean Gabriel

She has held numerous chapter-level positions as a member of the New Mexico Kachina Chapter since relocating to Albuquerque in 2005 and previously as a member of the Orange County (CA) Chapter for 23 years. These positions include

• New Mexico Kachina Chapter: Secretary, Webmaster; Publications Judge, informal advisor
• Orange County Chapter: Treasurer; Vice President, Membership;
  Publications Judge; Bylaws Committee member; Membership Committee member; Nominating Committee member

Jean has worked as a technical writer-editor and indexer over a 28-year career with a wide variety of business and government clients.

She completed the USDA Graduate School Basic Indexing course to obtain formal training in indexing. She’s been a member of the American Society for Indexing for 16 years, and has evaluated indexes and given indexing presentations at STC conferences and chapters. Jean also served as a mentor in the STC Indexing Special Interest Group and as a member of the Advisory Council for the Professional and Technical Communication Program at California State University, Long Beach.

Jean holds an M.A. in Education from Michigan State University, and a B.A. in Journalism, with honors, from California State University, Sacramento.

For her service to the Orange County Chapter, Jean was honored with the Distinguished Chapter Service Award in 1996.

Jean became an STC Associate Fellow in 2003 and a Fellow in 2007.

PCOC 2010

October 7 – 9
Nashville, Tennessee

Building and sustaining a technical communication career

The East Tennessee Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication continues a Tennessee tradition with the Practical Conference on Communication (PCOC) at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, October 7 – 9. You are invited to submit a proposal for a workshop, discussion, or presentation that focuses on ways to build and sustain a technical communication career. Please send your proposal to pcoc@stc-etc.org by May 30, 2010. For further details and topic ideas, please visit http://www.stc-etc.org/tiki-index.php?page=Practical%20Conference%20on%20Communication.

Kachina member honored

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) recently honored the work of Michelle Stump (an STC Kachina Chapter member, writer/editor, and digital artist) by voting one of her images into the 19-artist winner’s circle in the national AAUW 2010 Art Contest. This was the second national award for Stump who was also a winner in the AAUW 2009 Art Contest.

Stump is employed as a contract writer/editor at Compa Industries in Los Alamos, NM. She is assigned to the Information Resource Management Division, Communication Arts and Services Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

New Mexico American Marketing Association event on social media marketing

On April 13,  well-known social media guru, Mari Smith, who was dubbed “The Pied Pier of the online world” by FastCompany.com and is president of the International Social Media Association will talk about using Facebook and Twitter to increase your social media presence.

Mari will be covering these points in her presentation:
- Secrets to maximum results from your social networking
- How to drive a flood of traffic to your website and blog
- The top two secrets for getting rapid high search engine ranking
- Proven ways to identify and attract your top paying clients
- How to build a team of lucrative Joint Venture partnerships
- Facebook in just five minutes a day with huge, measurable results
- How to build a targeted, responsive following rapidly on Twitter
- The dos and don’ts of “tweeting”

The event is open to all ($25 for NMAMA members/$40 for nonmembers).   It runs from 7:30-9:30 am at the Hotel Albuquerque.

You can find details at the BLS site: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos319.htm.

Get your campaigns together and prove your results by entering the 21st Annual Marketer of the Year Awards. This celebrated award recognizes and applauds New Mexico marketers for achieving outstanding results from their marketing campaigns. Showcase your best work at the 21st Annual Marketer of the Year Awards Banquet on 15 April 2010 where winners will be announced.

The deadline for entries is February 26, 2010. You don’t have to be a member of the NMAMA to submit an entry. All marketing campaigns originating in New Mexico between January 1-December 31, 2009 are eligible.

For more details, visit www.nmama.org or email info@nmama.org.

As you can see, many of them had two positions, and they handled it all with aplomb and grace.  I’m sure the new Board will step up to the new challenges facing our chapter and the national organization.  The new Board members are:
•    Larry Bonura, president
•    Katherine Love, secretary
•    Bruce Dale, treasurer
•    Marilyn Ward, VP programs
•    Cynthea Kinnaman, VP programs
•    Linda Lambert, newsletter editor
•    Scott Sanders, education chair
•    Helen Moody, past president & webmaster
•    Robert Johnson, historian

The new Board is acutely aware of the stresses that are impacting members of the tech writing profession. In times like these it is more important than ever before to be part of a community where you can learn from others and help mentor your colleagues. Our goal as a new Board is to foster a community locally that can meet those needs.  Please join us in our endeavors.
You can find our email addresses and personal information on the chapter web site (http://www.stc-nm-kachina.org/).